Fixate or Focus
A few years ago, a friend of mine mentioned that many famous artists eventually go crazy. For some reason, this was just one of those things that stuck in my mind. Well, over the past few months, I've been developing a theory on why this might happen...
One of my most distinctive attributes is that I often enter into states of flow and creativity where I lose sight of everything else. Food, significant others, school, etc. all become meaningless no matter how much I might normally love them. In those hours of flow, in addition to working for many hours straight on pure inspiration, I come up with many creative ideas (at least they seem that way until I wake up the next day). In fact, I'm so impressed with my ideas that I might start dancing around our apartment or fall to my knees in euphoria. In the past, I've taken pride in this, considering it one of my strengths.
However, recently I've been noticing that it does come with its disadvantages if not managed properly. Below are those disadvantages coupled with possible solutions:
- Execution. Something that the entrepreneurially minded aren't lacking is ideas. What are lacking are resources to execute those ideas. Constantly becoming infatuated with the next 'million dollar' idea does not lead to real results.
Realization: Ideas don't have value in and of themselves. They are seeds that require resources to grow. A general rule of thumb is that whatever amount resources you think a project requires, multiply by two.
- Focus. Sitting in one place is extremely difficult for me, especially during classes. If the class is too boring, than my mind starts to come up with new ideas. If the class is too exciting, then my mind also starts going off the wall with new ideas. My heart rate speeds up, I bite my nails until their bloody (one of those childhood habits that didn't go away), and I intermittently write in my notebook and make eye contact with my professor when in reality I'm just brainstorming about business. Also, on a smaller level, I have difficulty listening to people for the same reasons as above.
Realization: Fixation leads to separation from your environment and lack of open-mindedness.
- Perspective Lastly, these flow periods often get more and more hectic. Instead of the problems being exciting, they become larger and more important than they actually are. With so many possibilities, I begin to feel behind because I don't have the time or resources to implement them.
Realization: Ideas can create a false reality, no matter how much you think your ideas are the truth. I love flying on stormy days because I learn the power of perspective. I'm always surprised and awed to see that the sun is always brilliantly shining when the plane gets high enough.
Comments
Lots of non-famous artists eventually go crazy too, you know. And scores of them stay sane. In the business world a visionary can be Bill Gates or Howard Hughes.
However, there is likely some correllation between passion and insanity. It can be measured that the zeal to change what is the accepted norm is visionary (if executed well) or delusional (if seen to be lunacy and not executed.) The visionary and the madman are the same thing depending on the moment in time. You are correct that execution matters. Da Vinci drew flying machines but did not bet his life on them. Probably a good bet, as the technology existed not back then for winged flight. There was great technology for creating vivid colors for paint, so his applications there were cutting edge.
Posted by: Vic Sarjoo | June 17, 2004 12:09 PM
I've heard that many famous artists went crazy because of the lead and other chemicals in the pencils and paint. They would inhale fumes, wet the ends of brushs... ingesting too much of that stuff is fairly harmful to your mental and physical health, especially when you are someone like Dali or Goya. Art seems like it requires little resources to execute also... perhaps artists are lazy entreprenuers.... or lazy entreprenuers might be good artists.
Posted by: Crazy Artist | June 17, 2004 01:05 PM
Emotional highes and lows. That is the true nature of an entrepreneurial mindset. For me, at the onset of a "good idea," it is often an emotional rollercoaster of positive and negative thoughts streaming into my mind's eye. When inspiration strikes, I immediately write down my insights. That way, I can add to them later.
Presently, I am working at a hi-tech business incubator in Virginia. I work side-by-side with 2 of the most entrepreneurial thinkers I have ever met. As a young and aspiring entrepreneur, it has been a rewarding and valuable experience to help Tommy and David (the CEOs) put thoughts and ideas into action and results.
The most important lesson I have learned: All great ideas don't have to be ready to be implemented NOW, they just have to be ready when opportunity knocks.
In NYC soon,
Stephen
Posted by: Stephen Douglass | June 18, 2004 05:52 PM
Perhaps creative insanity is about being fixated with an idea or series of ideas to the point that "it" or "they" become a total obsession - but to be obsessed by ideas is to also be faced with the prospect that they must find a "resonance" and "tangibility" beyond merely ?existing as ideas?. Ideas must be realized or remain no more than "unfinished business" in the scheme of things. In essence, creative insanity is as much about being consumed by creative thinking as it is about having the opportunity, motivation, time and resources to realize the obsession.
As for the ingestion of toxic substances or an over-indulgence in a modern lifestyle contributing to creative insanity, these may or may not have any bearing upon individuals or groups of individuals - although you could easily argue that they may not only provide clarity in terms of the thought processes for certain types of personalities, but actually be pre-requisites for living creatively.
Posted by: Nathan Wilkinson | June 22, 2004 09:26 PM